The Cardinals organization — which earlier this month dropped hints that it is finally considering joining 11 other teams in hosting a Pride Night at its ballpark in St. Louis — isn’t hiding its admiration for Lance Berkman, the former outfielder and first baseman nicknamed “Big Puma.”

“To me tolerance is the virtue that’s killing this country,” the former All-Star said in a 2015 radio interview just days after HERO was defeated. “We’re tolerant of everything. You know, everything is OK, and as long as you want to do it and as long as it feels good to you then it’s perfectly acceptable for you to do it. Those are the kinds of things that lead you down a slippery slope, and you’ll get in trouble in a hurry.”

Lance Berkman played in St. Louis. Guess his girls didn't go to his games! SL has a non-discrimination ordinance.-A http://t.co/gzEbKIYOd9

“What’s become a shame is that it seems like anybody who has an opinion that comes more from right immediately gets castigated, called a bigot, by voicing that opinion,” Berkman said, but he dismissed “digital persecution” in social media and said he felt it necessary “to stand up for Christ.”

And when challenged by a sports journalist on his comments that being gay or transgender is a behavior or “lifestyle” and told it is in fact a individual’s identity, the former World Series slugger responded:

“You’re taking their word for it, saying that’s the way they’re born… maybe there’s science that backs that up, I don’t know.”

Berkman told NBC’s Craig Calcaterra in 2015 that he regretted the use of the term “troubled men,” and claimed he specifically warned the backers of the anti-HERO campaign that using the term would be controversial. “I probably should’ve taken a stronger stance on that,” Berkman said, but he said campaign organizers made a strong case for its inclusion.

“The issue is, what to do about a 15 or 16-year-old boy who thinks he’s a girl and wants to shower with the girls? Maybe he is [transgender], maybe he’s confused. But I wouldn’t want him in the shower with my daughters. We shouldn’t have the rights of 2 percent of the population trump the rights of the other 98 percent. Is it a mental choice? I don’t know. But it’s a Pandora’s Box.”